KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
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The Kansas City Royals unveiled long-awaited plans for a downtown stadium Wednesday. It is planned at the site of Hallmark’s headquarters.
In the grand Kansas City tradition, the announcement sparked a wave of questions and concerns about parking.
Roughly one of every six viewer questions KSHB 41 received after the announcement were about parking, but residents we spoke with Thursday near Crown Center said not to worry.
“I think we’ll figure it out,” said Benjamin Walker, who lives just north of Washington Square Park. “I think the streetcar is going to make a difference. I do think it’s going to be different and people are going to have to adjust their thinking a little bit, but look over here (and) look around, there is a lot of empty parking here.”
The constant consternation about parking has always been part of the conversation around a downtown stadium, but Hallmark or the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation own thousands of parking spaces just south of the proposed stadium site.
While plans remain fluid, those properties include more than 4,600 spots in parking garages and many hundreds more spread across three largely unused surface parking lots.
That doesn’t include several thousand more parking spots in the Crown Center and Crown Center Shops garages as well as at Union Station, which a spokesperson said would be an option for Royals games.
“Parking is available for guests visiting Union Station, as well as those choosing to park here while experiencing downtown Kansas City,” a Union Station spokesperson said. “We currently have over 1,600 parking spots available for public use on any given day.”
Eslun Tucker, who lives in the neighborhood south of Crown Center area, said parking shouldn’t be a concern at the site.
“For the first time, hearing the announcement yesterday, I was excited, because, on so many levels, I thought, ‘OK, this one makes sense,’” Tucker said.
The proposal, which the Royals made alongside Hallmark Cards and flanked by KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, includes a $1.9 billion baseball stadium with another $1.1 billion to develop (or redevelop) the Crown Center area.
KCMO has pledged $600 million to the project in new tax revenue generated at the 85-acre site over the next 30 years, while the state will redirect roughly $400 million through the Show-Me Sports Investment Act, which the Missouri legislature passed during a special session in June 2025.
“Crown Center is pretty cool and Halls is amazing, but it’s clear that it’s time to invest some money and to create some change there,” Walker said.
“It’s been kind of dead for a while. I remember when I first moved here, Crown Center was really rocking — not anymore,” Tucker agreed.
A $3 billion injection should rejuvenate the area.
Details of the project remain sparse. The Hallmark headquarters will be torn down to make room for the stadium, but it is unclear if any other buildings will be impacted.
“Plans are underway, so we don’t have any specifics to share at this point,” Hallmark said in a statement to a series of questions KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer asked. “That said, one of the primary reasons that Crown Center was selected by the Royals is because of the legacy and purpose of Crown Center; they want to maintain and build upon the history of the complex.”
Hallmark is the only business expected to be impacted. It will relocate into temporary office space nearby with plans to build a new headquarters somewhere in the district.
As for tailgating, until final decisions about the development are finalized, it is unclear whether a traditional tailgate in a parking lot adjacent to the stadium will be an option, but the Royals pledged to incorporate fan input into the stadium development and are aware many want a tailgating option.
It just may look different.
For instance the Royals could create a community tailgate at Washington Square Park, since it won’t be part of the stadium footprint, but there will be more options for bars, restaurants and other activities around the downtown stadium compared to the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex.
“I am so excited about it coming here,” Walker said.
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